News in Brief: A National Roundup

Teachers Strike in Pa., R.I.; Most Unions Report Quiet

Teachers in a handful of districts in the Northeast have gone on
strike this school year to fight for better pay and benefits, but
contract negotiations otherwise have been amicable across the nation,
according to union leaders.

Most of the strikes are taking place in Pennsylvania and Rhode
Island, where teachers in suburban districts launched picket lines
earlier this month.

Educators in the 6,600-student Bensalem and 4,600-student Colonial
districts in suburban Philadelphia walked off the job last week.
Sticking points include health-care benefits and class size.

Teachers in the 2,800- student Middletown and 1,770-student
Narragansett districts near Providence, R.I., went on strike over
differences in proposals for wage increases, an accountability and
evaluation plan, and insurance coverage.

The rest of the nation, however, remains fairly quiet, according to
the National Education Association and the American Federation of
Teachers, the two national teachers' unions, which have a combined
membership of 3.6 million.

"There has been a downward trend in job actions over the past 10 to
15 years," said Kathleen Lyons, a spokeswoman for the NEA, adding that
unions and districts are working hard to usher in an era of
collaboration.

—Julie Blair

Teacher Wins $300,000 In Suit Over School Air

A jury has awarded $300,000 to a Beckley, W.Va., teacher who was
fired after she refused to come to work because of illnesses she
claimed were caused by environmental problems at her school.

Coal City Elementary School teacher Belinda Muovich had sinus
surgery in 1989 and 1991 because of recurring sewer odors and poor
ventilation in the school, according to the Associated Press. She left
her job in 1996 and the school board fired her in June 1997, allegedly
for failing to report to work.

The teacher's lawyer, David L. Grubb, filed her case in federal
court in June 1998, and alleged the school board's actions violated the
U.S. Human Rights Act, which requires employers to accommodate workers
with disabilities. Mr. Grubb could not be reached for comment.

On Aug. 28, a U.S. District Court jury awarded Ms. Muovich $125,000
for emotional distress and $175,000 in back pay dating from April
1996.

Chip Williams, one of the lawyers for the Raleigh County school
board, said the district will appeal the decision.

—Darcia Harris Bowman

Ore. Principal to Apologize For Letter Slamming Students

An Oregon middle school principal is having a rough start in
welcoming back parents and students for the new school year, after a
letter he wrote that referred to students as "snot-nosed" and
"hormonally charged juvenile delinquents" was accidentally circulated
more widely than he intended.

Michael Riplinger, the principal of Briggs Middle School in the
11,000-student Springfield, Ore., district, plans to meet with students
to apologize for the mistake in judgment, said Cherie Kistner, a
spokeswoman for the district.

"It was some locker room humor gone awry," said Ms. Kistner, to whom
calls to Mr. Riplinger were referred. "Hopefully, it was enough that he
issued an apology to the staff and community acknowledging a series of
mistakes had been made."

The letter from Mr. Riplinger was meant to be a joke, intended for a
small number of staff members who returned to the school before the
start of the school year. Instead, a copy was shared with local media
outlets.

The Springfield district and school board have accepted the apology,
Ms. Kistner said, as has the Springfield Education Association, an
affiliate of the National Education Association.

—Lisa Fine

Cleveland Modifies Contract For Teachers From India

The Cleveland school district has renegotiated contracts with an
international recruiting firm after the local teachers' union raised
questions.

The 76,000-student district used Teachers Placement Group, a
Plainview, N.Y.-based company, to hire 40 teachers from India.

The Cleveland Teachers Union wanted to make sure that the teachers'
contracts with the firm did not take advantage of them, said Richard
DeColibus, the union's president.

Specifically, the contracts will now say that if a teacher wants to
return to India, the recruiting firm will pay that teacher's plane
fare. But if a teacher wants to move to another district, the teacher
must pay the firm a fee of $15,000.

Before arriving in the United States, the teachers were required to
pay the firm a fee of $7,000, and they are required to pay the firm
between $1,200 and $4,000 a year, depending on their salary levels, for
relocation assistance and for transporting the teachers' families to
this country, Mr. DeColibus said. The new language makes these
obligations clear, he said.

The district also has decided to pay Teachers Placement Group
quarterly instead of yearly, to ensure that the arrangements go
smoothly.

Michael Vanjani, the president of the company, could not be reached
for comment.

—Michelle Galley

Phila. Mayor Withholds Money From Troubled School District

Uncertain over the future of the Philadelphia public schools, Mayor
John F. Street has vetoed a $60 million payment from the city to the
financially ailing system.

The funds were approved in June by the City Council to help pay for
a new teachers' contract and chip away at the district's $216 million
deficit in the current fiscal year.

Mayor Street, a Democrat, had promised state leaders that the city
would contribute the funds as part of agreements over the past year
with the state to keep the district financially solvent.

This summer, however, Mayor Street and Gov. Tom Ridge, a Republican,
gave the state until Oct. 29 to come up with a new management plan for
the district, or else take it over at some point.

Mr. Street said last week he feared that under state law, the
one-time infusion of funds could end up being required by the state on
an annual basis.

While a spokesman for the governor expressed surprise over the move,
the mayor's education secretary, Debra Kahn, said Mayor Street had
warned that without some guarantee that the city funds would constitute
a one-time payment, he would pull his support.

She said the city needs to be "prepared and protected" in the event
that the state takes over the schools.

—Robert Johnston

Girls Barred From Hockey After Reports of Hazing

Fourteen seniors on the girls' field hockey team at Northern
Highlands Regional High School in Allendale, N.J., have been suspended
for allegedly hazing younger teammates while at a summer hockey
camp.

School officials learned about the allegations in an anonymous
letter sent to the high school. More details emerged as other messages
were left at the school maintaining that several seniors on the team
had made sophomores bark like dogs, simulate oral sex on a banana, and
play hockey with syrup in their pants.

The alleged incidents occurred off campus at a field hockey camp in
Pennsylvania and on the bus ride home from the camp. Sophomores who
said they were hazed on the bus told school officials that about a
dozen players were locked inside a bus bathroom and forced to eat
jalapeño peppers or fireball candies while their mouths were
covered with tape.

Other students said they were forced to wear dog collars and
leashes, and climb onto tables at restaurants and bark like dogs.

—John Gehring

40 Dade County Teachers Quit Union Over Insurance

Upset by what they see as a conflict of interest between their union
leader and a health-care lobbyist, more than 40 Florida teachers
disassociated themselves from the United Teachers of Dade in protest
last week.

Educators at Flamingo Elementary School in Hialeah, part of the
Miami-Dade County district, feared that UTD Executive Director Pat L.
Tornillo had brokered a bad deal for them on a health- insurance
package to accommodate lobbyist Eric Sisser, a longtime friend of Mr.
Tornillo's, said Judy Herrell, a shop steward and 6th grade teacher at
the school.

Mr. Sisser works for HIP Health Plan of Florida, a medical carrier
that represents the 18,000-member union and is one of three health care
providers.

Teachers are also unhappy with the union's inability to garner wage
increases from the 361,000-student district, Ms. Herrell said.

"There is a need for a professional teachers' organization ... but
it has to be a progressive type with a value system," Ms. Herrell
said.

The suggestion that Mr. Tornillo is in league with a lobbyist is
ridiculous, said Annette Katz, a spokeswoman for the union.

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